Oni Brothers
by T.Ramsies
Summary: An Ancient evil arises in the city of Lost Angels brought by a familiar foe.
1. Prologue, Chapter 1 & 2

PROLOGUE

Standing on a cliff side overlooking a long narrow valley watching a marvelous full moon and the blue iridescence that colors the scene, a lone building stands in peaceful silence. A long road leads from the valley to the building, a simple yet beautifully perfect Zen Buddhist Monastery complete with rock garden. A distraught pair of eyes looks out onto this glorious sight with a tear of despair.

Akibo turns from the view of the magnificent valley below to his Alter. The man is elderly for the time; a mid-fifties man qualifies as practically ancient in Japan during the 16th century.

With a troubled sigh he begins a chant. As the chant starts to become more intense Akibo cups two small statues of demons in his hands and rocks back and forth grasping them tightly to his stomach.

A circling wind starts around the room extinguishing the candle on the Alter and sending a cloud of ash from burnt incense swirling. In the center of this maelstrom a single piece of paper appears undisturbed by its surroundings. Calligraphy paints onto the blank surface in red and black ink, written by the ash cloud.

As it forms Akibo becomes increasingly weak until he cannot keep his posture. He falls back exhaling his last breath, as if to give one more piece of himself to the spiraling entity. His hands part to reveal the statues just before they wisp away.

The paper disintegrates into the ash cloud as it hovers over the corpse of the gentle holy man as he lay silently on the bamboo tatami floor panels. A wisp of a hand lovingly caresses the stoic face smearing black onto the ghostly white skin.

It slowly leaves the fallen monk and races out the window overlooking the valley. The cloud shoots down the road hurtling toward the Monastery.

•••

A young Japanese woman in a tattered kimono lands heavily against the front door of the Monastery. Soaked in her own sweat on a night so cold her breath frosts the air around her, exhausted beyond breaking and scything in a great pain that distorts her face and body.

Her impact draws the attention of several monks who immediately take her in. While she is assisted the monks see she is about to give birth. They carry her into the building and shut the doors behind them.

Screams follow. The wails of a woman about to become a mother, baying cries of the infants as they erupt into life clearing their lungs confused at being alive, the shrieks of the men who fail to contain their terror at what they just aided into the world.

Chapter One

A disenfranchised member of the post-punk why bother generation stomps his way down Sunset Blvd. This place discourages most during the day, so at night it's an estranged slice of hell populated by every manner of creature, and most the locals know Dirk.

With an outstandingly outlandish purple Mohawk, tipped green for good measure, nobody would guess that this manic-depressive would be the sole interest of an exclusive group of undead. They follow him slipping from shadow to shadow keeping their pursuit obfuscated with distractions and cover.

Nearby, Angel, Gunn, and Wesley walk down an alleyway trying desperately to ignore Cordelia's ranting. Cordy is brushing off her trendier than thou clothing. The crew looks like they recently went ten rounds with something ugly.

"This is never going to come out. Never. Every time I go out with you guys I get all dirty." Cordelia whines. "The guy at my cleaners is going to drop me."

Wesley turns to Angel with a question forming. With a tired gesture Angel puts his finger up to his lips shushing Wesley, "Please don't."

Cordy continues without missing a beat. Wesley returns to his impression of the walking dead leaving his question for another day.

"...and of all the places to go after an ugly slime ball but Hollywood. I don't want to see the walk of fame until I am on it. I mean why can't they infest the seedy streets of Beverly Hills or Brentwood or even Santa Monica." Cordelia says with a full throated sense of conviction.

Angel, Gunn, and Wesley turn a corner intentionally letting Cordy walk in the wrong direction during her rant.

Cordy continues the rant unphased by the others. "A monster on the 3rd street promenade would help me kill two birds with one stone." Cordy realizes the misdirection and hurries to catch up. "You guys, you promised you would appreciate me more."

"I appreciate you." Gunn retorts almost as a coarse of habit, like a pavlovian response to a woman asking for respect, strong maternal upbringing and a long list of aunties to keep him inline.

Not realizing the automated nature of the response Cordy smiles. "Thank you."

Angel takes the opportunity Gunn just opened for him. "Lets observe a moment of silence while we appreciate Cordy."

The group continues walking several steps and it's too much for Cordy to bear. "See that! You are just trying to shut me up."

Gunn cracks a smile. "Damn and it was working."

"So close yet so far." Wesley's tired voice waifs from the background.

Cordy assumes a position in front of the group and continues while walking backwards. "Just for that I am going to continue talking all the way back."

"I for one love the sound of your voice Cordy. Please continue on whatever you would like to say." Angel says.

Gunn chimes in. "Ya, don't be like that, just say whatever comes to mind."

Cordy stops with a blank look on her face. "Losing your train of thought?" Wesley asks.

"Guys, I was trying to make a point." Cordy turns away disgusted and walks several steps while Gunn slaps a low five to Angel.

Across the street Dirk stops in front of a chain link fence and lights a cigarette. Cordy notices him with the same expression she would use for a car wreck or a gruesome crime scene. "Ouch, punk fashion victim."

"Can you imagine trying to get a job with that haircut?" Gunn jabs a chin at the punker across the street. "I mean that must be a limit some employers just can't get past. "

"I can't see him in a suit and tie." Wesley squints weakly as if to attempt the visualization.

Too tired to hold back the sarcasm, Angel suggests "Toilet brush maybe."

The group looks at Angel mocking astonishment that he would make the remark. Angel looks back and forth to the group. "Oh like I was the only one thinking that."

"I should make you apologize to him." Wesley exclaims without passion.

Angel shrugs, "He doesn't look like the sensitive type."

Cordy, of all people, steps in. "This toilet fixture happens to be a person..." Cordy turns to point at the subject of the conversation. "A human being who is about to be abducted by those vampires."

As the group turns toward Dirk the three vampires who have trailed him to this point rush in from the other side of the fence and tear through it grabbing his torso.

The group takes a startled start toward the melee as the powerful hands pull Dirk through the chain link fence leaving a jagged hole in the mesh and streaks of cuts along Dirk's skull.

The group moves through the tear and gets near as two of the vampires break off the attack on Dirk to take on Angel, Gunn, and Wesley. The third vampire starts dragging Dirk away.

Cordy doesn't know what to do, "Guys, he's getting away with the toilet brush guy!"

"Well, do something about it!" Westley pushes out through gritted teeth as he parries a kick, with his ribs.

Cordy runs after the third vampire, dragging a slightly conscious Dirk.

The two vampires take on the three heroes with surprising ease. They work as a team blocking for each other and keeping the three at a stalemate. Angel scores a lucky hit that seems to hurt his hand more than the vampire.

Cordy reaches Dirk and pulls on his belt. The vampire snaps Dirk's neck and kicks the body into Cordy knocking her back several feet. Dirk lands on top of her.

"Guys, a little help." Cries Cordy from under the limp dead body.

The vampires become more aggressive and move with extreme grace and speed. So fast in fact that they move faster than the eye can follow delivering rapid blows in complex combinations.

The two gather the three men into a clutter just before they knock Angel, Gunn, and Wesley back into a pile.

The third vampire retreats as the other two vampires hold their ground. Wesley picks himself out of the garbage pile that softened his impact. "Any bright ideas?"

"Running sounds good." Gunn suggests as he rolls off the hard pallet that he landed on.

Angel, clearly the loser of the three landing face first into a dumpster's corner, clears a trickle of blood from his nose with the sleeve of his black coat. "I would be ok with that."

Cordy is still stuck under Dirk's corps. "Still need help here."

The two vampires stop their progression and turn toward a new combatant who rounds a nearby corner. The figure takes several steps toward the fight and removes the hood of a long robe that covers his large frame. A head of straight black hair pulled tight into a tail tops a demonic face with blood red skin, deep black within black eyes, oversized cheek bones, a powerful jaw, and sharp upper and lower fangs. The demon stands near to seven feet and has huge hands with sharp black fingernails.

Cordy, still pinned by Dirk, strains to see but cannot. "How are we doing?"

Angel, Wesley, and Gunn look at the newcomer with jaws dropped. "I think we just got worse."

Another creature of the same race appears behind Cordy and lifts her out from under Dirk holding the back of her neck. Cordy is held at a position not allowing her to see either newcomer.

The relation in appearance between the two is not just the familiarity of their race, they look almost identical save the clothing and hair. The creature that holds Cordy's neck wears skintight leather clothing and his hair is in a bushy mess. At first glance he may even look like an 80's glam rock star, if it wasn't for the whole demon thing. "Attack him!"

The two vampires attack the robed demon with the same techniques that were so effective against Angel, Gunn, and Wesley only this time their opponent is better than they are. He defends gracefully and begins beating the two around the alley.

Angel, Gunn, and Wesley recover themselves and rush toward the biker demon and Cordy. Seeing the oncoming attack he twists his wrist breaking Cordy's neck and releases his grip on her. Gunn screams as the three reaches Cordy's limp body falling to the pavement.

Angel slides under her catching her in his arms and laying her gently on his lap. "She's still breathing."

The biker demon slips on a full-faced motorcycle helmet as he walks away. "But not for long", echoes back to the group as he drifts into the local haze.

The robed figure throws one of the vampires into a stack of wooden palates. A split piece enters the vampire's chest turning him to ash. He then strikes the other vampire making him land in front of Angel who stakes him. He turns to pursue the leathered monster.

"Wait, can you help her?" Angel breaks the demon's focus on the retreating enemy.

He looks at Cordy then looks back toward the route the other took. Realizing the dilemma Wesley promises, "We'll help you track him."

The hulking figure gracefully turns toward Cordy. "Give me room to work."

The three separate allowing him to lean over Cordy who has fallen unconscious. After a quick examination he holds her neck in his hands and begins to chant in Japanese. A moment later he twists his hands sharply producing a loud crack. Cordy awakens with a start and leaps to her feet.

Cordy's eyes dart around, her head spinning as her body sways. "What was... Who the hell..."

Cordy looks at Angel, Wesley, and Gunn who are shocked at the instant recovery.

Cordy whips around to the demon whose hood obstructs her view of him as he finishes the chant. Frantically she asks "What the hell do you think you were doing?"

He lifts his head and again pushes back the hood to face Cordy giving her a first look at his demonic face. "You had better catch her." He says to the men standing dumbfounded.

Cordy faints and Angel thrusts forward catching her again. "I've been known to have that effect on people." The demon rises and offers a slight bow of respect to the group.

•••

Angel, Gunn, Wesley, Cordy, and the robed demon walk into the hotel lobby continuing a conversation started in the car ride over.

"So you have been around since the 1500's." Gunn turns to Angel "Someone older than you. "

Angel smirks at the comment but doesn't respond. Fred, nose buried in a book, comes out of the back office into the lobby. "You know guys I think we could do alot of stuff with mixing magic and technology. I've even found a new way to fight vampires..."

"You're going to need to catch her." The deep rumbling voice of the robed demon echoes in the lobby.

Cordy and Wesley nod and walk over to Fred who looks up at the new voice. "Who's this?"

Drop. Fred faints into Cordy and Wesley's arms. They drag her over to the sofa in the center of the room while Angel picks up her book.

Once free of the burden Wesley turns and gestures toward Fred, "If you please."

A massive red hand with black nails pointed razor sharp slowly approaches Fred's face.

Cordy looks at the scene with light disgust. "I still can't believe you guys let him do this to me."

"It wasn't like we could've prevented it." Gunn speaks up. "That guy came out of nowhere."

"Not that. This whole touching thing, we didn't know this demon."

Fred starts to awaken and the robe moves away from her "So we have company?"

"Yes, this is..." Wesley stutters a bit trying to pronounce the full name. "What was that again?"

"Kunsomeda Toda Otekasan." Replies the large voice, Fred gives a short giggle while the others look blank. "Oteka for short."

"Yes well Oteka, this is Fred." Wesley gives a formal introduction. "Pleasure to meet you." Rumbles the demon.

"Charmed, why did I just go unconscious?" Her scientist side usually wins over the shy one.

"My apologies, that happens the first time a female human sees one of my race in our natural form." It is obvious that Oteka, while a demon, is a Japanese demon. He maintains the closed and simple body language of a traditional Japanese Monk.

Cordy says, "And I thought it was from that other thing. So what brings you to town?"

Oteka sits on the couch and relaxes an imperceptible bit. Fred, still unsure of him, gets up and walks over to Angel who hands her the book she dropped.

"I'm in Los Angeles hunting down the demon and his minions that we fought tonight." Oteka answers.

Fred looks over the group. "You guys fought minions?"

"Oh ya, us the minion fighters." Cordy's sarcasm has obviously reached the next step.

"She's a little cranky; the bad guy broke her neck." Gunn explains

Startled Fred takes a closer look at Cordy's neck walking toward her. "Are you all right?

Cordy quickly waves her hands in front of Fred. "Ya these guys let him crack my neck back together."

Fred immediately retreats looking over to Gunn. "You're right, cranky."

"Not that I'm complaining but you hunt your own kind?" Angel tries to bring the conversation to a serious point.

Oteka nods, "I am the last of the Oni, or at least I hope I am. I was born in a monastery in the mountains of Japan, 1534. The holy men trained me to control my demonic impulses.

"Earlier you referred to your natural form?" Wesley interjects. "What exactly did you mean by that?"

"I can only take advantage of my accelerated abilities in my natural form. When I am at rest I can concentrate on a different appearance."

Gunn looks interested. "So you can look like anyone?"

Oteka closes his eyes and morphs into a Japanese man in his early 40's. "Not quite. This appearance took a century to build."

Fred smiles, "Well, it does look much better."

Wesley looks over at Fred oddly. Oteka removes his cloak to show a stylish shirt, nice jeans, and boots. Cordy's eyes bulge a bit and she turns walking quickly toward the office.

Wesley continues his questioning. "And the other one like you?"

"Sektaka. He never developed himself to this point of control. " When in his human form the deep voice that remains of the demon form doesn't match the body. He is very plain in appearance, nice looking enough but unremarkable enough to blend into a crowd.

"Do you know more about him?" Angel presses.

"We attended the same monastery, only they were not as effective with him as they were with me."

"That must have been tough." Gunn empathizes.

Cordy returns to the lobby with a fashion magazine holding up the pictures comparing them to Oteka's wardrobe. Oteka becomes distracted by Cordy, who makes little noises when she finds different things about the clothes. "He wasn't able to learn the discipline and philosophy they offered so one night he left."

"How long have you been tracking him?" Wesley asks.

"Several decades after he left, word came back to the monastery that Sektaka had become the demon we feared. I was sent to return him to the monastery at all costs."

Angel senses a problem with his answer. "Is that still the plan?"

"The Tokugawa Shogun destroyed the monastery in 1820. No, after all that's happened over the centuries, my task is to stop him, permanently."

Cordy starts flipping pages frantically.

Gunn steps up, "So your gunna kill him."

"Problem with that?" the deep voice rumbles.

Gunn smiles a reply, "Na, just making sure."

"He started building and leading armies against governments and sovereignties. He destroyed entire provinces single handedly."

Cordy closes the magazine. "I must say you have an excellent taste in wardrobe. Are you gay?" The look of astonishment from the group is intense however Cordy is not swayed in her inquiries.

"Thank you for the compliment, and no I am not."

"What lead you to believe he was here?" Wesley asks desperate now to change the subject.

"He has been hired by a local law firm in an attempt to create a group of elite vampires."

An air of tension builds amongst the group, a form of worry that had not occurred to them prior.

"Wolfram & Hart."

Chapter 2

The hallways of Wolfram & Hart are moderately busy. Sektaka walks down the halls wearing motorcycle leathers and holding a helmet, he's followed by four men wearing business suits. One of the following men is the human side of the third vampire who escaped the night before.

As they move down the hall a woman sees Sektaka and faints. A slight smile crosses his demonic face as he rounds a corner into a conference room. The last man following shuts the doors.

Delilah sits at the head of a conference table with a Senior Partner. "You may consider leaving the helmet on until you get in here."

Sektaka sets the helmet down on the table. "It would cost you much more to have me submit to your will. Besides, I liked you much better sprawled on the floor of your office. "

The Senior Partner gestures to Delilah to stop before she replies. "Why have you called us together for this meeting?"

Sektaka takes a seat while the four men fan out around his side of the room. "Two of my trainees were killed last night. You told me Oteka wouldn't find me here. This complicates things."

"Your point?" The senior Partner knows full well where this is going but he will still make the demon say it.

"More complications mean more money. I am not going to risk my life for free. Training up vampires is easy money, Killing him requires more work."

In full lawyer mode Delilah speaks up "I was lead to believe that you were the last of this race that held the ancient knowledge of...

Sektaka pounds his fist against his side of the table sending it into Delilah and the Senior Partner pinning them into their chairs. The four men shift into vampires and cross the room, two per lawyer. "Knowledge wise enough to have your death planned."

A side door to the room opens revealing four vampire guards with stun batons and stakes. The Senior Partner gives a smirk. "We too stay prepared."

Sektaka gives a hand gesture and the vampires tighten their grip. "I guarantee that you will be dead long before I." The Senior Partner tests his endurance a moment then signals the approaching guards to stop.

Sektaka waves his hand and the vampires release their hold.

"What do you want?" The senior partner straightens his expensive suit trying to avoid eye contact with the demon.

"Add a zero to my rate and furnish me with two other volunteers."

Delilah cocks her head to one side, "How can we be sure it's worth it?"

Sektaka looks at one of the vampires. After a moment of silent communication the vampire approaches the four guards. A step away from them he squares off in a fighting stance.

"A test." Sektaka suggests.

The Senior Partner nods and says to the guards, "Kill him."

The guards become active moving around the lone vampire. As soon as one gets close enough the vampire attacks. Moving faster than the eye can follow he decimates the four guards leaving two dead and two stunned.

The others move over and help to remove the bodies of the two stunned guards.

"I expect the first half of our newly decided price deposited into my account immediately." The four vampires return to Sektaka's side. Two have the subdued guards lifted onto their shoulder.

"We'll take these two volunteers with us."

Sektaka and group exit the conference room.

"Sir, tell me again why we are dealing with this thing." Delilah inquires.

The Senior Partner looks shocked at the question. "He is doing a wonderful job with these guys. Three weeks ago that vampire was a geek from accounting, now look at him."

"He's becoming a greater liability than ever."

"Really. Those vampires are on our side of this deal. Each one is blood bound to this firm, their loyalty is guaranteed. When Mr. Sektaka finishes the training. They will finish him off and bring back the technique."

"Yes, sir."

"Now, find out what happened to our men last night. I want to get to know this Oteka."

Delilah walks quickly toward a door.

"And Delilah,"

She stops and turns.

"You're good, however I don't believe you will ever be good enough to question me again."

•••

Fred is busy working at a laboratory setup in her room. The lab looks like a mixture of science and magic with herbs boiling over burners and a computer analyzing ancient languages.

Wesley pokes his head around looking into the open room. Fred is carefully working with a tray of Jell-O molds in the shape of Xmas trees. She sets down the mold and activates a device with an aluminum tennis racket oddly attached. When she flips the switch a loud electrical field erupts in the center of the tennis racket. She dips the Xmas tree shaped molds into the field holding an arrow stuck in the bottom. When she moves the object out it has formed an arrowhead shaped crystal shard. Wesley steps into the room and Fred turns off the field.

"I'm sorry, too loud? I tried to make it quiet but it's ripping a whole in space/time so it's hard to construct a silencer for it."

"Fred, there's nobody up here; you can make all the noise you want."

"Oh...good"

"I just came up to see what you were doing."

Wesley picks up an arrow with a Jell-O mold tip.

"Well, I was reading the other day about enchanting suspended liquids so I made a Jell-O mold with wooden splinters."

"Naturally."

Fred smiles at the jest but doesn't let it sway her explanation. "The idea is that the splinters will be guided by the enchantment to a vampire's heart as soon as it hits the vampire's blood stream."

"But it's Jell-O. Are we going to force feed it to them?"

"That's what this is for." She indicates the odd tennis racket machine. "This creates a space-time field. I have it set to a dimension that turns everything to crystal. So the arrowheads get turned to razor sharp shards."

"This is based off the doorway that brought us to the demon dimension."

"Sort of but it only works when I want it to and is very small." She turns to a notebook on a table looking away from Wesley. "Actually I found a listing of several hundred different dimensions."

"You're working with some very dangerous things."

"This coming from the guy who hunts down demons and vampires?"

"Those risks are necessary and are not taken lightly."

"I am not risking any more than you. I can't fight in the field like all of you. Cordy can do all that stuff but I'm more the support type."

"And that support is invaluable."

"And I can do much more. I know how to make all this stuff. Now we can hit a vampire anywhere and they poof in no time. And don't even ask what the bat can do." She motions to a baseball bat on a pedestal. "This is how I contribute."

"Very well. Just don't blow the hotel up."

Fred smiles and looks around gleefully at her lab, like a kid being able to keep her favorite toy.

Angel enters and looks at the Jell-O mold arrows on the table. "Hi guys, hey Jell-O." He picks one up. "Can I have one?"

Fred and Wesley grab for the arrow. "No!"

Fred begins to whisper. "Not for good vampires, not for good vampires."

Angel, holding the arrow with the head close to his mouth, stops cold.

Fred turns to Wesley. "Maybe a little more careful."

•••

Oteka, Gunn, and Cordy are in the office researching.

Cordy scrunches her tired eyes. "Tell me again what we are looking for?"

Oteka in human form, answers. "His SOP."

"His what?"

"Standard Operating Procedure." Gunn offers but Cordy just shakes her head at him. "What his patterns are, favorite foods, familiar hangouts."

"He usually will make a local residence by exterminating a family and occupying the home." Oteka adds.

"So missing persons or domestic disturbances." Cordy concludes. "How many vampires will be with him?"

"I can't be sure but rarely more than six."

"So we search larger houses. Big enough to sleep seven." Gunn follows up the thought.

"Nice, hadn't thought of that." Oteka gives a slight bow and Cordy smiles.

Angel and Wesley enter from the staircase. "How was I supposed to know about the Jell-O?"

"You didn't try to eat the Jell-O did you?" Gunn asks incredulous.

"Fred's vampire killing Jell-O?" Cordy smiles.

Wesley looks around the faces curiously. "Did everybody know about it?"

"She had me grinding wood all morning." Gunn admits.

Cordy adds, "She got me to stir it."

Oteka wrinkles his nose. "I don't care for Jell-O."

"As long as I'm not the test dummy." Angel holds up his hands in an apparent surrender on the topic.

Oteka leans forward in his chair sweating. "I have a feeling you'll be testing the Jell-O soon."

Wesley missed what Oteka said lost in thought, "From now on we should all carefully avoid Fred's room."

Oteka jolts to his feet and grabs the counter between him and Angel. His grip squeezes indents into the wood.

"Or not." Wesley finishes the thought looking at Oteka with concern.

Oteka's control over his appearance falters as his demon face returns. He is in the painful throws of a vision very much like Cordy's. His knees give out and he falls to the floor.

Gunn and Cordy instinctively go to Oteka's aid. As soon as Cordy touches him she is hit with the same imagery. They are both seeing Sektaka viciously beating a girl. By the end of the vision the girl is dead and both Cordy and Oteka are unconscious on the floor.

•••

Sektaka stands over the mangled body of a woman. "A seer."


	2. Chapter 3 & 4

Chapter Three

Wesley opens a bottle of ammonia and puts some on a rag. He then waves the rag under Cordy's and Oteka's noses. They both awaken with chocking gasps, waving away the ammonia fumes.

Gunn looks them over with concern in his eyes. "You guys ok?"

"Is that ammonia?" Oteka's eyes water as regains consciousness. Cordy's eyes are also watering and she quickly waves her hands close to her face to fan away the fumes.

"Well it worked, your awake." Wesley reseals the bottle. "Its what we used before smelling salts."

Cordy blinks away the irritation in her eyes and stands up. "Why didn't you use the smelling salts in the first aid kit?"

Angel and Gunn exchange glances. "We have a first aid kit?" Angel asks.

Gunn follows up "Where?"

Cordy realizes her error, "Oh, I keep it hidden so you guys won't mess it up."

Oteka shakes off the cloud in his mind and reforms his human appearance. "You didn't say you were a seer."

"Oh now that's just not fair." Angel protests.

"Well it's not something you tell every Tom, Dick, and Demon you meet." Cordy brushes off her clothes and stumbles to a barstool at the front counter.

"How do you know she's a seer?" Wesley inquires.

"What, I'm not responsible enough for the first aid kit." Angel presses.

"Ya, what happens when we need it?" Gunn takes a step closer to Cordy and looks at her eyes whipping away a tear.

Cordy smiles "Ammonia, obviously."

"I know it, and now he knows it." Oteka starts to gather his cloak.

"He who?" Cordy tries to catch up.

"You have a psychic link with him don't you?" Wesley realizes.

"I may heal back pretty quick but I still could need a Band-Aid or something." Angel mumbles.

"Angel, I believe Sektaka now knows were we are and who we are." Wesley reports.

"We're definitely going to need that first aid kit." Gunn adds.

Oteka puts on the large robe. "We need to leave, now."

"Did you have a vision of Sektaka?" Angel asks Cordy.

Cordy replies uneasily, "Yes."

Wesley asks, "When you touched Oteka, you saw what he did?"

"And now Sektaka will hunt her down and kill her."

Everybody's demeanor becomes more intense.

"Hold up," Gunn starts to shake his finger at a realization "there something missing in all this. Why do you get a vision of this other Oni?"

"It is assumed that a certain bond exists between twin siblings." Oteka looks downward, almost in shame, at the admission.

The group looks confused.

"Sektaka is my twin brother."

"Ya, that would do it."

"Several decades ago he killed a seer and I was assaulted with the vision of it, however the vision was cursed. It only works when he kills."

"And you didn't share this information."

Oteka turns to Cordy, "Not something I tell everybody."

Angel has become slightly agitated. "So he kills and gets off on making you watch."

"It's more than that. He knows were I am and whom I'm with."

"So when you get close he kills somebody and figures where you're coming from?" Gunn asks.

"Exactly."

"So why Cordy all the sudden?"

Angel takes a guess at this one. "The murder of a seer made these visions, he figures another seer will boost his power further."

Oteka nods in agreement. "Making the visions more debilitating and giving him a terrific advantage over me."

"We need to get her out of here." Wesley walks past the group into the office to get his coat.

"You all need to leave. He is not above attacking anyone associated with the seer or myself to gain an advantage."

"If we are going on the run I'll need to stop at my apartment." Cordy begins to collect her things.

"Oteka and I will take Cordy to her apartment. After that we'll meet at the safe house." Angel takes the lead and walks to the weapons cabinet to arm up.

Wesley stuffs a handgun into his belt and grabs a bundle of wooden stakes. "How long until Sektaka attacks?"

"He's at least an hour away by car."

"Gunn, Fred, and I will try to find a way to fight Sektaka."

"Don't stay too long." Angel says over his shoulder as he and Oteka help Cordy toward the exit.

"I didn't know we had a safe house." Cordy looks at Angel surprised.

"We kept it hidden, so you wouldn't mess it up."

•••

Sektaka rides a motorcycle into the garage of a classic suburban house. The other car in the garage is a black SUV with a "Proud Parent of Carter Elementary Student" sticker on the back. Once the garage door closes, Sektaka removes his helmet and enters the house via a connecting door. Family photos are hung on the walls of the house, furniture from an IKEA catalog litters the rooms, and two security guards are sprawled out on the floor of the kitchen with four vampires watching them.

Sektaka sets his helmet and keys down on the dining room table and enters the kitchen. "Is the Alter ready?"

A vampire nods while watching the two guards like a hawk, Sektaka looks on bored. "Don't tell me you wagered on when they will wake up."

One of the vampires nods quickly. "I've got the next six minutes."

"When they awaken, inject them and tell them the rules." Sektaka turns and walks away toward a bedroom.

The excited vampire nods, "Yes sir."

On an adjacent wall the once occupying family hangs by their feet one after another. Sektaka gestures toward the corpses. "And get rid of these bodies."

The two guards rise with a cheer from the vampire and a grown from the others.

Sektaka walks into a bedroom that looks as if Martha Stewart designed it with one major exception. A large black cabinet has its doors open to reveal an Alter with dark cloth, archaic Japanese symbols, candles, and a ceramic cup with a smoking hot black liquid.

Sektaka removes his jacket and kneels in front of the Alter. After several chants and some arm movements he holds the mug in both hands. A brief prayer then he takes a long drink. A sour expression passes over his face, "Vampire, get in here."

The winning vampire enters counting 20's. "Yes, sir."

Sektaka hold up the cup and pours the contents out on the floor, "Is it too much to ask for a decent cup of coffee?"

"Sorry sir. I'll make up another pot."

"Put it in a to go mug." Sektaka rises to his feet. "We've got to go pick up someone."

•••

Angel, Cordy, and Oteka, in human form, are en route to Cordy's apartment. "What else does he know?" Angel asks from behind the wheel.

Oteka's face betrays concern. "I don't know. Can we go faster?"

"Well you were there! What do you know about me?" Cordy exclaims frustrated.

"Why faster?" Now Angel is concerned, not for the situation, but for the car.

"It doesn't work that way." Oteka admits.

Cordy presses, "What way?"

"How much faster, cause this car is a classic?"

"When we touched, Sektaka and I got the same view of your life."

"The entire thing?"

"I mean it's only got 60k on it so it's ok to go fast."

"Just the past few years. Anyway, we shared the vision so I took pieces and he took pieces."

"What pieces does he have?"

"I just don't want it to start knocking and pinging."

"I have no idea where you're apartment is."

"Meaning he does."

Angel floors the gas pedal. "Moving faster now."

•••

The group arrives at the apartment and Angel enters Cordy's apartment while she waits outside with Oteka. After a quick pass Angel reports, "Looks clean."

Cordy rushes into the apartment, "Just grabbing a few things then we're gone."

Oteka enters the apartment. When he gets to the living room where Angel is he starts looking around quickly, suddenly on edge.

"You all right?" Angel notices Oteka's posture.

"This apartment is cursed."

"I know, the drapes are so last season and I desperately need an area rug." Cordy adds not knowing what Oteka was really worried about.

"I don't think that's what he's thinking about."

Oteka sniffs the air as he circles the living room. "There is a lost spirit here."

"Oh that's Dennis, he came with the place."

Oteka responds surprised. "You're on a first name basis with your ghost?"

Cordy gives him a coy look (as if to say "doesn't everyone") and continues packing.

Angel nods, "Yes the strangeness that is our lives."

"I figured a vampire with a soul would be the extreme but a seer with a happily haunted apartment certainly does give pause."

"Tell me about Sektaka. How does he make these vampires so powerful?" Angel changes the subject.

Simultaneously the same conversation is happening at the Hotel. Wesley is holding a book while Fred and Gunn are in the background researching on a computer.

Wesley perks up with a revelation, "Aspect of the demon."

Gunn asked confused, "Who of the what?"

"Aspect of the demon, we dealt with it several years back."

"Souped up vampires?"

"No, the slayer acquired telepathic abilities from the blood of a demon."

"You mean she could read thoughts, that's tight."

"It very nearly drove her insane."

"Not so tight."

"What our friend seems to be doing is giving these vampires a serum of his blood."

Angel is following the same conversation with Oteka, "You mean the blood is at full concentration?"

Oteka answers, "No, he fears the vampires rising up against him. That's why he won't train more than six, and he keeps the mixture diluted."

Cordy asks, "So how long does the effect last?"

Wesley answers, "The effect is permanent if the blood is properly prepared. However, in this case direct exposure of a diluted mixture would only last a few days."

"How did you deal with the effect before?" Fred asks.

"Last time we made a concoction from the heart of the fallen demon's companion. In this case I think Oteka would be the likely donor." Wesley cringes as he answers.

"That doesn't sound like a good option." Cordy responds.

"I'm not suggesting that we force-feed them your heart." Angel says as if apologizing.

"I'm not so inclined to think that would even work." Oteka responds.

"If you can't stake them what makes you think you can force-feed them." Cordy challenges.

"That's not what I said." Angel defends.

"Not that I wouldn't be willing but it's pretty gruesome."

Angel turns, "This from a demon."

"I guess you could slip it in a spare pint of blood, or something." Cordy offers.

Oteka asks, "So what are you saying?"

"That the aspect of the demon is connected to the heart of the creature." Angel answers.

"You guys are not gunna do this in my apartment are you?"

"So if we destroy Sektaka's heart..." Oteka looks introspective like a thought has occurred to him that he isn't going to share.

"Now, how do we do that?" Angel stays on point.

Cordy excitedly blurts out, "I got it, we can rip out your heart, blend it up real good, and use tranquilizer darts."

Angel and Oteka look unthrilled at Cordy's suggestion.

Fred experiences a similar aha moment. "Quicksilver!"

Wesley inquires, "As in mercury?"

"A weapon forged of mercury?" Gunn adds in.

Fred referencing a book in her hands, "It says here that a Ronin was once hired to kill an Oni demon."

Gunn asks, "Ronin?"

"Samurai for hire." Wesley answers.

"Sort of, but he had the help of a monk who poured mercury into an open wound on an Oni's chest. It caused a decay that ate the Oni away."

Gunn offers, "So we slice the guy open and pour the juice in."

Wesley adds, "Or better yet, we forge a weapon out of mercury."

The front door to the lobby burst open. Sektaka and two vampires enter. "I'd rather you didn't." Sektaka offers.

Wesley and Gunn follow Fred in a dead run up the stairs. The vampires give heated chase while Sektaka calmly walks after them.

Gunn yells, "Where are we going?"

"My room." Fred huffs and puffs as she sprints up the stairs.

Wesley explains, "Vampires can't go into a person's residence without an invitation."

"What about big and ugly kung fu master."

The vampires are moving extremely quick while chasing the three. One runs up a wall, jumping from ledge hold to footing, reaching the staircase Fred, Wesley, and Gunn are on.

"One crisis at a time."

The three round a corner to a hallway and sprint toward Fred's room. Fred makes it across the threshold of her door and turns to see Wesley and Gunn who fell behind.

They are running shoulder-to-shoulder toward her as a vampire begins to overtake them. "Split up!" Fred cries.

The vampire leaps to grab the two as they divert to either side of the door. The vampire misses them and slams into the barrier at Fred's door. The recoil sends him back and the two enter Fred's room just before the second vampire can catch up to them. The second vampire tests the barrier before helping his comrade up.

Gunn gives a mocking laugh while Fred starts searching through the shelves of the lab. "Ha, suck on that!"

"Wesley, turn on the field."

"How?"

"Red switch on the floor." Wesley flips the switch under the table. The lights dim from the power draw and the field in the tennis racquet lights up.

Sektaka rounds the corner in a leisurely walk as the vampires make way. Gunn turns to the pair, "Guys, any time your ready."

Wesley grabs a crossbow and a quiver of Fred's new arrows.

"Got it." Fred runs over to the table with a small vile of mercury. She pours a third of the contents into the field. A crystallized shard comes out the bottom. "Throw it at him."

"Now you're talking." Gunn grabs the shard and throws it end over end at Sektaka. The shard comes close to the demon's head but he dodges the projectile.

Fred pours a little more making a second shard. Gunn catches it as it falls through the device and throws it toward Sektaka who blocks it with his covered forearm.

Wesley suggests, "Aim for his heart!"

Fred pours the remainder of the liquid metal into the field creating a third shard. "Last one, don't miss."

Gunn throws the shard at Sektaka who is at the door. The demon catches it in his bare hand.

Sektaka crushes the shard in his grip. "Weak. Now come on out, were having lunch."

Sektaka reaches out with the same hand he caught the shard with. The flesh on his palm is being eaten by the pieces of the shard.

Wesley allows a bit of a smile, "Fred, does that mean it's working?"

"I guess. Do you feel any discomfort in our hand?"

Sektaka looks at his hand and screams in pain and horror. Gunn grabs a baseball bat off the laboratory table.

Fred continues her scientific questioning, "Is it a withering flesh sort of thing or a burning itch?"

"I'd call it a heavy sting." Gunn moves in to swing the bat at Sektaka who is stunned by the effect on his hand.

Fred perks up seeing Gunn. "Not tested, not tested."

Fred's warnings come too late. Gunn swings the bat and hits Sektaka in the midsection. The blow rocks like an explosion that sends Sektaka flying out into the hall.

Gunn is set in the end of his swing caked with white ash from the impact. Spitting out the white ash in short spurts, he looks at the end of the bat that is shattered. He then looks over to Fred and smiles. She giggles a bit and shrugs modestly.

Sektaka gets up and runs down the stairs. The two vampires turn and follow in a scared sprint. As they go to leave Wesley steps up to the doorway next to Gunn and fires one of Fred's arrows. The bolt hits the vampire in the rear, which slows his escape. A moment later he ashes away as if staked. Gunn and Wesley stand at the door stunned while the other vampire runs down the stairs.

"Wes."

"Ya Gunn."

"I'm thinking we need to give that girl a raise, company car, trip to Hawaii..."

"She can have the fillings out of my teeth for all I care."

Chapter 4

Angel is driving with Oteka sitting shotgun and Cordy in the back seat. Oteka asks, "Where is the safe house?"

"Far away from here I hope?" Cordy adds.

"It's remote, out of the way, and they wouldn't come near it." Angel tries to sound re-assuring

"Are we thinking cozy Santa Barbara beach house remote or in the valley remote."

"Cordy, there are vampires in Santa Barbara; no vampire would be caught dead in the valley."

"So to speak." Oteka adds.

Angel shrugs off the pun.

"I know how they feel." Cordy complains.

"We'll have to get some groceries before we get there."

"Don't worry, there's a convenience store every three blocks, guaranteed." Cordy becomes sarcastic.

Oteka's right hand starts to burn and smoke the way Sektaka's did. He turns to Angel holding his hand in disbelief.

Angel asks, "Does that happen alot?"

Before Oteka can respond he is hit with a pain to the midsection and doubles over. Out of reflex Cordy reaches over to help him and is struck by a vision of Sektaka's fight at the hotel. The experience knocks her back in her seat. "I have got to stop doing that."

Angel slams the brakes, pulls over, and kills the car.

"Sektaka was injured and somehow I could feel it."

"This was the first time he has done this?"

"Angel, they were at the hotel." Cordy warns.

Angel spins back around in his seat and tries to start the car.

In a black SUV behind Angel's car, a vampire in a security guard outfit hangs up a cell phone. "We're a go."

The three other vampires in the back of the SUV move to the back door.

The driver guns the gas pulling up to Angel's car quickly. Before the vehicle stops the vampires jump out and swarm the car.

The first vampire in a security guard uniform leaps onto the trunk of Angel's car and grabs Cordy lifting her out of her seat. The second slides across the hood Dukes of Hazard style and attacks Oteka who is in his demon form and still dazed from the earlier injuries. The third grabs Angel keeping him pinned in the car.

As soon as the first vampire gets Cordy into the vehicle the driving vampire puts it in gear and drives away. The other two break off their attacks and catch up to the vehicle.

Angel runs after the vehicle but cannot keep up. The license plate is half covered by the spare tire however a "Proud Parent of Carter Elementary Student" sticker is visible.

•••

Delilah and a Senior Partner are in Delilah's office. They are watching surveillance cameras positioned outside Angel's hotel.

"Sir it seems that Angel Investigations has somehow become involved."

"It seems they have fingers in all the pies now don't they." The Senior Partner allows a disappointed expression to flash on his face as an image of Sektaka running out of the hotel injured with a vampire in close pursuit flashes across the screen. "Didn't he go in with two of our associates?"

"I would appear that Angel and this Oteka are more than Sektaka can handle."

"This is terrific. Money, resources, manpower... All wasted on this demon's promise."

"Sir, if I may." The Senior Partner nods permission for Delilah to continue. "The promise is in the creature that did this."

"Our sources say he can't be bought."

"I don't want to buy his services. I want to experiment on his carcass. With the doctors at our disposal we could figure out how he accelerates vampires."

"If he is that powerful, how do we subdue him?"

"Sektaka is weak now. Angel and Oteka will attack while he is weak and take out the whole nest."

"I am not looking forward to loosing more men."

"So we pull out our people, wait until they waste energy on killing Sektaka. Then we hit them fast and take who we want with the accelerated vampires." Delilah explains her strategy.

"I want you there to oversee the operation."

"Sir?" Delilah's surprise at being tasked to the field is obvious.

"You want to play with the big boys you have to play the big games. Oh, and letting them kill him seems a terrible waste. Get them both."

Delilah's demeanor once so cocky switches quickly to annoyed. "Yes, sir."

•••

Angel drives recklessly down the freeway moving as fast as he can pushing the old vehicle while talking on his cell phone. Oteka lays in the back seat unconscious. Angel is on the phone with Wesley in the hotel lobby.

"How long ago did you say this happened?"

Wesley responds, "Several moments ago. Let me get this right, the damage we did to Sektaka manifested itself upon Oteka at the same time.

Wesley cups the phone to his chest and asks Fred, "Any ideas why this happened?"

Fred is sitting at a computer with a headset phone on. "There is nothing in the literature but I'll check."

"That needs to go on the back burner. I've got a partial plate number on the vehicle. I think it belongs to the family Sektaka took for his lair." Angel fumbles into a shirt pocket for a small piece of paper.

"What gives you that idea?" Wesley inquires.

"There was a proud parent sticker on the back." Angel fumbles with a scrap of paper while handling the car. "The partial plate number is 4rte."

"Was the name of the school on the sticker?" Fred asks.

"Carter Elementary I think, why?"

"I can get addresses on all the possible plates that come off your partial them cross-reference them to the Carter Elementary school district. I mean, how many could there be?" Fred shows off her big brain.

"Wesley."

"Yes, Angel."

"I wanna elect Fred for employee of the month."

"Yes, we've scheduled the ceremony for later this evening. How is Oteka?"

Angel looks into the back seat. Oteka is in human form resting. "I think he's getting his strength back. We need to hurry."

"Odds are Sektaka is recovering at the same rate."

"Where's Gunn?"

"He's out getting more mercury for another weapon."

"Good, I'm a half hour out. We need that address."

Fred pounds wildly on her computer, "I'm on it!"

•••

Cordy is hanging unconscious next to the family of dead bodies. Two vampires watch her closely as the others help Sektaka into the house. His hand is bandaged and he is still holding his stomach.

"She is going to have to wait until I regenerate. Do not indulge your bloodlust until I am through with her." Sektaka orders the group while stumbling toward the master bedroom.

The vampires assist Sektaka into the bedroom while one of them opens a cell phone and speaks in whispered tones.

Delilah is on a cell phone inside a surveillance van parked down the street from the house.

"As soon as he's out join up with the bulk of the attack squad."

One of two scruffy looking technicians hands Delilah a headset while setting up the mobile command center. Delilah slaps the cell phone closed and puts the headset on.

A moment later she smells something rank. "Do you guys ever bathe?"

The two technicians look at each other then simultaneously sniff their armpits.

"Free-lancers."


End file.
